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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28056603">my forever home (by your side)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownedmayhem/pseuds/crownedmayhem'>crownedmayhem</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Animal Shelter AU, Background Sunaosa, Fluff, M/M, Magical Creatures, Mild Hurt/Comfort, background bokuaka - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:41:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,454</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28056603</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownedmayhem/pseuds/crownedmayhem</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kenma doesn’t understand why this new guy is even here, but he doesn’t seem to be leaving any time soon and neither does his elaborate plan for the animal rescue. He can't just turn it into some sort of mythical creature cat cafe... can he?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kuroken Christmas Exchange 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>my forever home (by your side)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is my piece for the kuroken christmas exchange!!!</p><p>for q <a href="https://twitter.com/qlerodendrum">@qlerodendrum</a> on twitter!!</p><p>this is my first time taking part in an exchange so im praying it turned out ok ;;<br/>i hope you enjoy it q!!! hopefully you like this rendition of modern magic sdfkjds</p><p>(also if you have an ao3 account pls let me know so i can dedicate this fic as a gift to you!)</p><p> </p><p><strong>content warnings</strong><br/>there's a couple of swear words in here and there's some description of kenma being a bit anxious and biting his knuckles nearer to the end at <i>"It doesn’t explain why Kenma feels so stressed"</i>  which ends at <i>"When he comes back, there are more notifications on his screen."</i> if you want to skip these parts</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kenma scowls at his phone. He doesn’t think it’s possible for a game to scroll through character text bubbles any slower. At this rate, he won’t make it in time and he’ll lose his only chance at getting the limited edition staff for his character. It’s his own fault, he knows, for leaving the event to the last minute, but sue him—he’d been busy. His latest video was taking more time to edit than usual and work had been more taxing ever since the season shifted into cooler weather and more animals were being dropped off. With so much to do, Kenma hasn’t had time to sit through three cumulative hours of text scrolling. Can he really be blamed for having better things to do than sit through this slog of an event?</p><p>At long last, the interaction ends and Kenma can finally start the last battle he needs to complete to finish the quest. The loading screen doesn’t even finish before Kenma’s interrupted by the phone at the counter ringing. His scowl deepens and he tries to think of ways to avoid picking it up. Maybe he could cast a spell to levitate the phone over so he wouldn’t have to get up… then he could still play the event <em>and</em> answer at the same time.</p><p>“Kenma! Could you grab the phone?” </p><p>He’s distracted from his mental planning when he hears Akaashi’s voice.</p><p>“Without using your magic!” Akaashi calls out a second later. His head pops out from behind the corner then, eyes narrowed. “Don’t look at me like that. I know you, Kozume Kenma.”</p><p>“Can’t Bokuto get it?” Kenma huffs, glaring at his phone screen. Damn himself for being so predictable.</p><p>“Nope!” Bokuto says, peeking out from beside Akaashi, head-to-toe covered in… feathers? “Momma griffin is sleeping, so Daddy Bokuto has to take care of the wittle baby gwiff.” He disappears around the wall and Kenma hears him cooing, soft and high pitched.</p><p>Akaashi is distracted for a moment as he smiles at Bokuto, fond, and then he sends Kenma a look as if to say, ‘Well, there’s your answer.’ Kenma grumbles and looks down at his game forlornly. Silently, he makes peace with the fact he won’t be able to get the limited staff for his character and resigns himself to his fate.</p><p>He hobbles over to the still-ringing phone and picks it up. He barely manages a meek, ‘Hello,’ before the chiding tone of the rescue owner comes through.</p><p>“How long does it take you kids to answer a phone these days?” she says lightly. “I have to leave in a minute, you know.”</p><p>Kenma winces. “Sorry, Nanami-san,” he mumbles.</p><p>“If you were on that game of yours again, Kenma...” she sighs. At the reminder, he glances back at his abandoned phone but she doesn’t wait for him to respond, tutting and continuing on anyway. “I was calling ahead because I remembered I have someone coming to work at the rescue for a bit. He’s the nephew of an old friend of mine and he’ll be helping on the business side of things. You’ll take care of him, won’t you? Ah—the taxi’s here. Don’t let anything bad happen while I’m gone, dear!”</p><p>“Wait—” but it was too late; she’d already hung up. He glares at the phone as he puts it down. He likes his boss, really; Nanami-san is a sweet old lady who started the rescue on her own years ago because of her bleeding heart for the poor animals who’d get carelessly abandoned, and Kenma respects that about her. It’s just… sometimes, she could be a little airheaded. He knows she never means anything by it, but more often than not, it results in situations like this, and Kenma can sense the oncoming headache.</p><p>He returns to his seat, frowning, and unlocks his phone to see the game reload with the default title screen. Brushing aside his annoyance at the event ending, he instead focuses on the newcomer who’s meant to arrive… at some point. The belated realisation he wasn’t even given a timeframe makes the counter look like a very tempting resting place for his head. If he’s lucky, he might even fuse with it and experience the peaceful equilibrium of being an inanimate object.</p><p>“Why do you look like you want to become one with the counter?”</p><p>Kenma spares a glance up from where he was staring longingly at the patterns on the wood. “I thought you were helping Bokuto with the griffins,” he says in lieu of an answer.</p><p>“I wasn’t doing much. Besides, most of them are taking a nap now.” Akaashi waves a dismissive hand. “So what was that about?”</p><p>Kenma sits up and slumps forward, resting on his arms. “Nanami-san said some guy is supposed to come help out here or something. I don’t know.”</p><p>“Did she not tell you anything else?”</p><p>He pulls a face. “She had to go before I could ask any questions.”</p><p>“Ah...” Akaashi trails off. “Well, that’s helpful.”</p><p>“You’re telling me,” Kenma grumbles. “I don’t even know when he’s going to get here. Or what he looks like. Or his name. But now he’s my responsibility.”</p><p>“Do you really have no idea what to even look for?” Akaashi asks, face twisting in sympathy.</p><p>“She said he’ll be helping on the business side of things, whatever that means. Maybe he’ll be in a suit or something.”</p><p>“It’s possible,” Akaashi says. “I can try and keep an eye out for you if you want.”</p><p>“Thanks. That would be good,” Kenma says.</p><p>His mind drifts as he wonders what the man will be like. He imagines a seedy, balding man, his shady, wonky glasses askew on his face and a heavy briefcase in hand; he’d probably try to convert the rescue into a dodgy pet store. The thought makes Kenma grimace.</p><p>Quickly, he dismisses his speculations—no matter what his mind manages to conjure up, he won’t know til the guy walks through the door. There was no point in trying to think of all the worst possible outcomes. </p><p>Sighing, he questions why his boss would even hire someone. As far as he was aware, the rescue wasn’t in some financial mess. Being a non-profit meant they never really had any spare money, especially when they took care of griffins, phoenixes and dragons, but it’s not like they were in desperate need of any at the minute.</p><p>Besides, there was no guarantee that ‘the business side of things’ even meant the rescue’s monetary handling. Gah, Kenma has never studied business; he can’t think of any other reason why this new guy would be needed.</p><p>Soon enough, he realises his train of thought won’t lead to anything and sullenly resigns himself to the idea that he’ll really just have to find out when the guy gets here.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Kenma’s busy tending to the dragons when the man walks through the door.</p><p>It’s been almost a week since the phone call and enough time has passed that Kenma had finished editing the video that’d been giving him trouble and had uploaded it a few days ago. Now he could focus on his one remaining concern—the Mystery Man, as he’d dubbed him.</p><p>So far, there haven’t been any sightings of who could be the person they’re looking for. Akaashi had taken note of some people and even Bokuto had joined in and tried to help, but their efforts had turned out to be fruitless as all of their potential candidates had left without any confirmation. </p><p>Kenma had rang Nanami-san at some point to ask for more information, but all she had to give was: “Ah, I think he might show up next week. As for what he looks like… from memory, his hair’s a bit messy; you know, you kids with your hairstyles these days. I’m sure you’ll know what I mean when you see him. Oh, and he’s a tall one, that boy. Hm… I can’t seem to remember much else.” </p><p>He’d tried to pry more from her, because the description of ‘messy hair’ and ‘tall’ is vague enough to fit the one bakeneko that pops up at the rescue sometimes. Not that that bakeneko has actual hair that could be messy, but its fur before grooming could definitely be less than tidy. That aside, Kenma’s almost ninety-nine percent sure their new temporary coworker isn’t going to be a cat yokai. Or so he hopes.</p><p>The most he’d managed to weasel out was: “I think his name was something like… It began with ‘Kuro’, I’m sure of it.” It wasn’t the most useful, but it was better than nothing—and honestly, Kenma needs all the help he can get.</p><p>Even armed with the extra hints, they hadn’t found the Mystery Man and Kenma was getting ready to push it to the back of his mind and write it all off, when the fateful encounter they’d all been waiting for happens on an unassuming Wednesday morning.</p><p>Kenma’s kneeling in the dragon pen, lamenting that he ever let his hair grow out this long. He’s speaking from experience when he says it’s not fun having to peel tiny fire-breathing creatures off every time they try to embed their claws in his head. His once neatly-done bun has become a straggly mess and Kenma sighs as he casts a minute spell to lift the dragon up and put them on the ground.</p><p>“Please stop climbing in my hair, Tora,” he says flatly.</p><p>Tora looks up at him with his big round eyes and blinks, confused.</p><p>“Don’t play dumb with me.” Kenma’s lips tilt down. “You know what you’re doing.”</p><p>Tora cocks his head to the side.</p><p>Kenma’s about to repeat himself when he yelps and hunches forward, feeling his hair being pulled again. He reaches up and grabs the body that’s crawling further up his head. It requires a gentle tug, but he plops the other dragon down next to his knees. “I was literally just telling Tora off for this. Really, Fukunaga?”</p><p>The other dragon flicks his tail at him and trots away. Kenma blinks blankly at his retreating form.</p><p>Tora doesn’t react, but Kenma feels like he can sense him laughing. His nose scrunches and he doesn’t meet his eyes—now he <em>knows</em> he's laughing at him.</p><p>“Hey Kenma—what happened to your hair?”</p><p>Kenma glances up and sees Akaashi’s mirthful smile. He grimaces and looks pointedly at Tora.</p><p>“Ah,” Akaashi says, a knowing tilt to his lips. “Well, I just came to tell you that the guy Nanami-san told us about is out front.”</p><p>“Wait, really?” Kenma gets up from the ground and dusts off his legs. “Are you sure it’s him?”</p><p>“Yeah,” he replies. “Came to the desk and introduced himself and everything. He looks a lot younger than I was expecting, to be honest.”</p><p>Untying his hair to pull it back into a new bun, Kenma hums.</p><p>“He seems all right, if a bit too <em>suave</em>, but he does look like a businessman, so I suppose it’s only natural,” Akaashi says, turning back. “I wouldn’t worry too much.”</p><p>With that, Akaashi leaves and Kenma mulls over what he said. He would say he hadn’t really been worried, per se. In his defence, it’s natural to be cautious. He likes the environment at the rescue and someone new could change things. Plus, the whole businessman thing is—well, Kenma’s seen a lot of situations from businesses trying to profit off of selling pets. If this new guy wanted to do anything like that… to put it in simpler terms, Kenma would just really rather he <em>not</em>.</p><p>But alas, he tells himself he’ll just have to find out as he walks through to the front of the rescue.</p><p>When he sees the man, his first thought is: <em>that hair—a bit messy is an understatement.</em> The man’s hair seems to have no natural order and it sits on his head like an animal all on its own. He’s tall too, like Nanami-san said, but Kenma’s used to having to look up at people when his group of friends seems to only include people who drew the lucky height stick and his own habit of slouching doesn’t do him many favours either.</p><p>Looking at the man’s face, Akaashi’s earlier comment comes to mind and Kenma realises he does seem young. To be fair, the guy was meant to be someone’s nephew, so he couldn’t have been that old anyway, but some part of Kenma still didn’t expect it. On the other hand, the man was overdressed in a black suit—he did somewhat expect that, at least.</p><p>“Hello,” Kenma says.</p><p>The man turns slightly and smiles when he sees Kenma. “Hi, I’m Kuroo Tetsurou. Nanami-san sent me to come help out here for a bit.”</p><p>“I’m Kozume Kenma. You can just call me Kenma. Nanami-san told me about you,” he says. He recalls his boss saying the man’s name began with ‘Kuro’ and thinks, well, she wasn’t wrong, but Kenma feels like there was an implication his name would be a bit longer than just ‘Kuroo.’ “Uh… she didn’t really specify what you would be doing, though.”</p><p>“That’s okay,” Kuroo says, waving a hand. “I don’t mind doing whatever. My aunt just wanted me to take a break from my normal job.”</p><p>“Oh,” Kenma says. Briefly, he ponders what Kuroo’s normal job is. Probably something mind-numbing and businessy. “If that’s the case, I can just give you a tour for now and we’ll figure something out.”</p><p>Kuroo nods. “That sounds good to me. Lead the way.”</p><p>Walking out from behind the counter, Kenma starts to head to the griffins around the corner, but Kuroo interrupts him.</p><p>“Um… sorry, Kenma-san... are you uh, aware of the dragon on you?”</p><p>Kenma pauses and feels dread pool in his stomach. Don’t tell him… He pats around on his head and lo and behold, his fingers skim over rough scales. He feels his cheeks heat up as he carefully dislodges the dragon and lowers his arms.</p><p>Tora’s red snout peers up at him and he tries to remind himself why he was his favourite dragon out of all of them.</p><p>“Sorry,” Kenma says, sheepish. He attempts to will away his blush and avoids meeting Kuroo’s eyes. “This is Tora. He’s a little bit of a troublemaker.”</p><p>Tora titters in his hands, his wings flapping about and pushing a breeze through Kenma’s hair.</p><p>“How did you even climb on me without me noticing?” he mutters to Tora, eyes narrowed. The red dragon sticks his tongue out at him. Kenma shakes his head and ignores Tora in favour of Kuroo. “I was going to take you to the griffins first, but I guess we’ll have to make a detour to the dragons if that’s okay. I need to put this little guy back where he belongs.”</p><p>Kuroo’s eyes are wide, staring at Tora, and it takes a moment for him to snap out of it. “Oh yeah, of course. That’s fine.”</p><p>Kenma notes Kuroo’s surprise and wonders if he’s ever seen a dragon before. He refrains from asking and pushes the thought from his mind, instead choosing to walk to the dragon pen. He puts Tora on his shoulder and they go through a door, passing the bright nature murals on the walls.</p><p>“You guys have a lot of perches around,” Kuroo comments.</p><p>Tora turns from where he’s sitting, tail tickling against Kenma’s neck as it brushes by. Kenma peeks over his shoulder and sees Kuroo looking around curiously, oblivious to how Tora stares at him. “It’s because most of the animals we take care of here can fly so it’s nice for them to be able to stretch their wings.”</p><p>“Oh,” Kuroo says. “What animals do you take in?”</p><p>Opening another door, Kenma leads Kuroo into the dragon pen. “Well, here we have our dragons. You’ve already met Tora, resident mischief. There’s Fukunaga”—he nods to the purplish dragon resting on an artificial rock feature in the corner—“he’s sweet. That one’s Yaku,” he says, gesturing to a small orange tinted dragon that dives to the floor from a perch, swooping up with his wings splayed wide. “He really likes jumping from things, so please be careful. He likes to use Bokuto’s head to jump from too. Actually—”</p><p>Kenma glances up at Kuroo and considers the bird's nest that is the other man’s hair. “You’re similar height, so try not to get too close. And your hair…” He trails off, knowing the dragons would love to pull at the strands and make themselves home on Kuroo’s head. He grimaces at the thought of the phoenixes seeing it.</p><p>Kuroo blinks back at him, likely processing the information dump, before he rears back and his face contorts, sifting through a frankly surprising amount of expressions. He settles on one of mild offence and places a defensive hand in front of his hair. “What about my hair?” he frowns.</p><p>“Nothing…” <em>It’s a monstrosity</em>, Kenma thinks. “It just looks a little… enticing. For the dragons. And the phoenixes. Probably the baby griffins too. Those are all the animals we have.”</p><p>As if the dragons had been eavesdropping, Yaku leaps up and climbs to the top of Kuroo’s head before he can react.</p><p>“Uh,” he says, mouth open as he freezes.</p><p>“Yaku—”</p><p>“Kenma-san, what do I—”</p><p>“Yaku, no—”</p><p>Kuroo squawks in surprise when Yaku nestles further into his hair and uses his claws to shape the tufts to his liking.</p><p>“Ow, ow, ow—”</p><p>“Yaku, stop, you can’t do that,” Kenma says, alarmed. “Kuroo-san, please lean down.” Tora’s jostled on his shoulder as Kenma reaches out to pluck Yaku from Kuroo’s head. “Let go, Yaku, come on.”</p><p>Yaku growls deep in his throat and bares his teeth at Kenma’s hands. He lets out a low rumbling sound and Kenma can see it reverberate under his scales. His wings puff up and Kuroo winces as the peach-coloured dragon digs his claws in.</p><p>“Sorry, he isn’t usually like this,” Kenma mumbles, his eyes becoming increasingly pleading the longer Yaku curls up on Kuroo’s head.</p><p>“I—ah—believe you, Kenma-san,” Kuroo says, his voice a little choked from how he has to bend for Kenma to reach his head. “It’s okay; I don’t hold it against you.” He chuckles, even as the movement causes Yaku to grip harder.</p><p>“Thanks,” Kenma smiles, but it’s partially strained. He sighs. “Yaku, I’ll give you some pepper slices if you let go.”</p><p>Yaku stares at him.</p><p>“Chicken?”</p><p>Yaku stares harder.</p><p>“Yaku…” Kenma’s beseeching expression slowly grows into a scowl. “I’ll get Akaashi to feed you.”</p><p>Yaku flinches, letting go of some of Kuroo’s hair. Their staring competition continues, but Kenma presses on as he sees Yaku begin to falter.</p><p>“If you get off him now, I’ll feed you later.”</p><p>The peach dragon huffs, small swirls of smoke rising from his snout, but he obediently unlatches from Kuroo and pushes against his head to jump off.</p><p>Kuroo straightens up, unsteady as he flattens out his tie and blazer. His eyes look a little shocked and his hands go to his hair in a daze.</p><p>Kenma bows his head minutely. “Sorry you had to go through that. He’s nicer than that normally. He must’ve been feeling agitated today.”</p><p>It seems that Kenma’s voice catches Kuroo’s attention. “No, no, like I said, it’s fine, Kenma-san. We all have our off days,” Kuroo grins. “I was just unlucky to catch his.”</p><p>“Still,” Kenma says. He looks at the rest of the room and lets Tora off his shoulder. “Also, just Kenma is fine. You don’t need to add the honorific.”</p><p>Kuroo looks contemplative for a moment and his arms drop from where he’d been fussing with his hair. Kenma thinks there wasn’t much of a difference to the bird’s nest before Yaku and after Yaku, if he’s honest.</p><p>“If I call you Kenma, then you have to drop the honorific too,” he ends up saying.</p><p>Internally, Kenma wonders, <em>what are we, kids?</em> but doesn’t push it. “Okay Kuroo,” he says. “Well, we have other dragons, but I think you’ve probably seen enough of any little fire-breathing reptile for today. The phoenixes are close by, so we can go visit them.”</p><p>“Hopefully they won’t try to nest in my hair either,” Kuroo laughs.</p><p>Kenma’s lips quirk up as he says, “Unfortunately, no promises.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>After a few days, Kenma notes that Kuroo settles into life at the rescue. The first day had gone relatively well, ignoring the Yaku incident, and thankfully, none of the other animals tried to establish a home on Kuroo’s head. The phoenixes hadn’t set any part of him on fire either, and Kuroo fell helplessly in love with the baby griffins, sleeping as they were when he and Kenma reached them.</p><p>Kuroo had also spent some more time getting to know Bokuto and Akaashi, and Bokuto had mentioned they were on the path to greatness (translated from Bokuto-speak, they became quick friends.) Akaashi had said he was funny, which Kenma had squinted at because Akaashi doesn’t give out compliments so easily. But he supposes he’ll take it. For now.</p><p>Compiling that with Kenma’s own experiences, like when he had Kuroo help out in cleaning the rooms, or when he watched him bond with the animals at feeding time, he has come to a conclusion. Multiple conclusions.</p><p>The first is: Kuroo Tetsurou looks unfairly good, even when tired and having worked up a light sweat after cleaning out the griffin area. Kenma’s eye twitches when he remembers what he’d said.</p><p>“I’ve been neglecting the gym because of work lately, and damn, I’m back to square one. It feels like I haven’t done any exercise since playing volleyball in high school.”</p><p>“You used to play volleyball?” Kenma had asked, panting on the other side of the room. It was late October shifting onto early November, but somehow the air felt like it was way too stuffy.</p><p>“Yeah, though we never made it to nationals or anything,” Kuroo said. He’d wiped his wrist across his brow then, and Kenma remembers trying to ignore the way his muscles had shifted. “Did you play?”</p><p>Kenma had nodded.</p><p>“Oh cool! What position? I was a middle blocker.”</p><p>“Setter,” Kenma had said, not intentionally reticent, but in that moment, he hadn’t minded leaning into it.</p><p>The second conclusion Kenma has come to: Kuroo Tetsurou can be nice. (Only when he wants to, Kenma feels compelled to add.)</p><p>“Hah, how’d I know you were going to say that,” he’d chuckled. Kenma didn’t have time to question what that was supposed to mean before Kuroo continued. “It suits you. All that strategy and metagame stuff. I bet if my team had had someone like you, we would’ve made it to nationals. I mean, our setter then wasn’t that bad, but I think you would’ve probably been way better.”</p><p>Kenma knows his surprise had been evident because seconds later, Kuroo had looked up, curious as to the silence.</p><p>“Kenma?” he’d asked.</p><p>Shaking his head, Kenma had replied, “Sorry, I just… wasn’t expecting that.”</p><p>The third conclusion: Kuroo Tetsurou is also <em>annoying</em>.</p><p>“Really? Seems obvious enough to me,” Kuroo had said. A wicked smile had crept onto his face soon after. “Or is it because you’re too short, pudding head?”</p><p>Instantly, Kenma’s face had morphed into a scowl. “Pudding head?”</p><p>“Yeah, you look like pudding from up top because of your dark roots,” he’d grinned.</p><p>“You’re one to talk,” he’d said. “At least my hair doesn’t look like an actual bird’s nest.”</p><p>“Excuse you.” Kuroo had left the dustpan on the ground as he straightened up on his knees. “People spend a lot of time and money trying to get their hair to look half as good as this.”</p><p>“Really now?” Kenma had taunted. “Just because people want their hair looking like a mess of straw and sticks doesn’t mean it’s any good.”</p><p>“Kenma,” Kuroo had gasped dramatically, one hand to his chest.</p><p>“I’m not wrong.”</p><p>Kuroo had pouted but it had quickly turned into a light smile. “Fine, I’ll let you win,” he said, “but only because I want to go home today, and we could keep going back and forth forever.”</p><p>In partial agreement, Kenma had went back to wiping down the furniture. “You’d concede eventually.”</p><p>“That’s my line, pudding head,” Kuroo had said. He’d laughed at the glare Kenma sent his way.</p><p>Like he said—annoying.</p><p>Personally, Kenma thinks with this cumulative evidence, it’s clear that Kuroo’s defining feature is his ability to annoy. But other than that, Kenma decides he doesn’t mind Kuroo. Perhaps Akaashi was right when he’d said not to worry too much.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Kenma would like to change his earlier assessment.</p><p>Akaashi was wrong, and Kenma would like this written out on paper for him to store for future use.</p><p>“Come on, you guys have to do something for the Christmas season,” Kuroo says, following Kenma to the phoenixes. The wall murals switch from bright nature and transition to soft deserts and exposed rock. Somewhere, Kenma thinks there’s a metaphor for entering more dangerous territory.</p><p>“We already do enough,” Kenma argues. “What are you even thinking of anyway? The donation posters, flyers and adverts we pay for work perfectly fine.”</p><p>Kenma holds his arm out and dusts a light fire protection spell over his skin. He whistles then, waiting for Shouyou to fly down and perch. Behind the trail of embers the phoenix leaves, Kuroo’s face pops up.</p><p>“Okay, it might sound bad at first, but just hear me out,” he starts.</p><p>Kenma’s eyes narrow. “You better not suggest we start making big profits off of the animals or something.”</p><p>Kuroo holds up his hands, rushing to say, “No, no, no, it’s not like that.” Despite his words, he hesitates for a moment. “I mean, there will be income generated—but that’s not the main aim! It’s just an added bonus, like a side effect.”</p><p>“Kuroo…”</p><p>“Just trust me, okay, I know what it sounds like but I promise it’s good. Let me explain first and then you can cast your judgement.”</p><p>“Fine, but hand me those sunflower seeds first,” Kenma says. “Shouyou is always hungry.” On cue, Shouyou flaps his wings and small sparks fly from the tendrils of his flames. Kenma would usually cast a simple spell, but it was hard to do unbalanced with a phoenix on one arm and Shouyou’s close presence could mess up the magic.</p><p>Kuroo grabs the bag from near the wall and passes it over. “So the general concept is <em>basically</em> like those cat cafes you see. I was thinking we could collaborate with a small business like a local cafe or something and combine it with the rescue for an even more interactive adoption process! We can share some of the community, help each other out, and it’ll be more of an incentive for people to come and maybe even adopt. If not, they might buy some refreshments and we can use the revenue to support the rescue like we do with the other donations. It’s a good idea, don’t you think? Christmas special, come share the holiday spirit with a good cup of hot cocoa and maybe even find yourself a forever friend.”</p><p>While Kuroo talks, Kenma mulls it over. Shouyou nibbles away on the sunflower seeds in his palm and he tries not to jolt when he realises he’s thinking it’s not as bad as he thought it was going to be. Shouyou chirps and pecks at his hand, taking Kenma from his internal monologue. He taps the bird on the nose. “You’ve had enough seeds.”</p><p>“So…?” Kuroo’s expectant voice peters off.</p><p>Kenma glances up to see Kuroo’s hopeful face, and the more he looks at his eyes, the more he can feel the initial frown that pulled at his face start to fade. “I don’t think it’s a horrific idea… but there’s a lot to consider. It sounds very complicated to do, and I’m not sure it’ll be worth it, Kuroo.”</p><p>Shouyou flutters from his arm to rest on Kuroo’s shoulder, bumping against the other’s disheartened face.</p><p>Kenma’s about to open his mouth and say something else when Kuroo’s pocket starts ringing and Shouyou launches up in surprise.</p><p>“Ah, sorry,” Kuroo says, checking his phone. His brows furrow and he answers the call, sending an apologetic look to Kenma as he steps away. Kenma watches him go with something like concern swirling in the pit of his stomach. Instead, Kenma tries to focus on Shouyou, who’s still hovering near the ceiling.</p><p>“Hey, Shouyou, it’s okay,” he says quietly, peering up at the phoenix. “It was just a phone; one of these, remember?” He takes out his own mobile to show the bird, and Shouyou lowers himself to see. When he recognises it, he sinks back down to Kenma’s hand and nips at his feathers, shuffling about as if to recompose himself. “You’re a big bird; you don’t get scared of silly little phones, do you?”</p><p>Shouyou shakes his head and almost caws, but Kenma gently puts a hand around his beak.</p><p>“Kuroo’s listening to something important right now. Try not to make any noise until he’s done,” Kenma says, hushed. Shouyou nods and he lets go of his beak.</p><p>Kuroo comes back and his face is crumpled. When he meets Kenma’s gaze, his eyes are panicked. “Shit, sorry, Kenma, my grandma’s dog—”</p><p>“It’s okay, I understand, just go,” Kenma hurries to say. Seeing Kuroo’s dark pupils clouded with worry is enough for Kenma to let him go wherever he needs to, and it tangles around Kenma’s heart to see him like this.</p><p>Kuroo throws out a quick thanks and leaves in a rush, and Kenma can only hope things will be okay for him.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Later that day, in the emptiness of his apartment with only his plants to keep him company, Kenma’s phone pings with a random text. He glances over from his monitor where he’s editing his most recent video and opens the notification.</p><p>(18:43) <b>Hey, this is Kuroo. Sorry this is out of the blue, but I got your number from Bokuto! just wanted to let you know my dog is okay in case you were worried :) so I’ll be in like normal tmrw</b></p><p>The message relieves the thought that had been lingering in the back of his head and he smiles softly to himself as he types out a reply.</p><p>(18:44) <i>that’s good</i><br/>
(18:45) <i>i’m glad, kuroo</i></p><p>It doesn’t take long for Kuroo to shoot back another text.</p><p>(18:45) <b>Kozume Kenma replies pretty quick huh</b><br/>
(18:46) <b>Always on ur phone boss?</b></p><p>Somehow, Kuroo’s inconsistent spelling and grammar isn’t bothersome and Kenma finds it oddly endearing.</p><p>(18:47) <i>i’m literally a youtuber on the side</i></p><p>(18:48) <b>Do you youtube from your phone tho?</b><br/>
(18:48) <b>Sounds kinda hard tbh</b></p><p>Kenma rolls his eyes.</p><p>(18:49) <i>no but i am surrounded by technology a lot</i><br/>
(18:51) <i>you know what i mean</i></p><p>(18:51) <b>Do i? U sure?</b><br/>
(18:52) <b>hahahaa nah I do know what u mean</b><br/>
(18:53) <b>What’s ur channel name?</b></p><p>(18:58) <i>.. do u really wanna know?</i></p><p>(19:02) <b>Yeah sure</b><br/>
(19:03) <b>being a youtuber is cool these days</b><br/>
(19:05) <b>You kids and your tech</b></p><p>Kenma blinks at the text.</p><p>(19:08) <i>kuro you’re hardly a year older</i></p><p>(19:09) <b>And what a difference it makes</b><br/>
(19:09) <b>’kuro’ that ur new nickname for me haha</b></p><p>He sighs and doesn’t notice the fondness that slips in.</p><p>(19:10) <i>it was a typo but ok kuro</i><br/>
(19:13) <i>my channel is kodzuken</i><br/>
(19:13) <i>i stream on twitch too if u like streams</i></p><p>(19:14) <b>Holy you didn’t say you were that popular!</b><br/>
(19:15) <b>subbed tho ;)</b><br/>
(19:26) <b>I don’t know how twitch works but i made an account to follow u</b><br/>
(19:30) <b>Anyway have you thought about my earlier proposal~?</b><br/>
(19:31) <b>I know u said no but i think it could really work!</b></p><p>(19:35) <i>u didn’t have to follow me</i><br/>
(19:35) <i>thank you though</i></p><p>Kenma thinks about what Kuroo said earlier. He’d talked offhandedly to Bokuto and Akaashi about it and they’d had pretty differing opinions to Kenma: Bokuto loved the idea and thought it’d be great; Akaashi was less enthusiastic, but he thought there was potential in the idea as long as the execution went well.</p><p>Having spent more time pondering over it since he got home—living alone in the dreary autumn-winter season is conducive to a <em>lot</em> of introspection—Kenma’s reasoned that it could work, he supposes. He’s just… wary.</p><p>(19:39) <i>i have thought about it more</i><br/>
(19:40) <i>the concept doesn’t come from a bad place and it’s not unachievable or something</i><br/>
(19:41) <i>there’s just a lot to work through</i><br/>
(19:41) <i>we’d have to get permission from nanami-san for one</i><br/>
(19:42) <i>and then how would we set it up?</i><br/>
(19:44) <i>if we found a business willing to collaborate would they set up in our small kitchen or would we have to rent another place? would they be okay with essentially shutting their shop for however long this lasts? how are we going to pay them, plus if this doesn’t work out that well financially?</i><br/>
(19:45) <i>sorry.. i just have a lot of concerns :/</i></p><p>(19:48) <b>No that’s fine! it’s good you’re thinking about these things</b><br/>
(19:49) <b>Those questions all make sense though so I see where you’re coming from and don’t worry, i’ve thought about them too</b><br/>
(19:50) <b>We’d have to sit down and spend an afternoon hashing it out but it’s definitely plausible! with nanami-san’s permission though obviously ;)</b></p><p>Kenma gnaws at his lip as he considers Kuroo’s messages. They don’t do much to assuage his worries, but it’s good to know Kuroo at least thought about the plan rationally before proposing it.</p><p>(19:51) <b>It’s getting a little late rn tho</b><br/>
(19:52) <b>we can talk about it again later?</b></p><p>(19:54) <i>yeah, that’s okay</i><br/>
(19:55) <i>have a good night kuro</i></p><p>(19:56) <b>You too :) Night, kenma!</b></p><p>Turning off his phone screen, Kenma stares back at his reflection. He’s surprised to see a small smile on his face. He shakes his head and goes back to where he left off on editing his video.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Look, we can do interest checks on social media or something,” Kuroo explains as he sifts through white feathers. “We have a pretty decent social media presence right? It’s not huge insurance, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be okay.”</p><p>“I haven’t studied much business in my life, Kuro,” Kenma says, “but I don’t think ‘pretty sure’ is enough to bank on. I donate a lot to the rescue already from my YouTube and Twitch earnings, so if worse does come to worse, I can probably get us through, but it’ll be tough.”</p><p>Kuroo raises his fist with a grin, white fluff trapped between his knuckles. “That’s more consideration than last time,” he declares. “I’m wearing you down slowly but surely, Kenma.”</p><p>Scrunching his nose, Kenma shakes his head and looks down at the griffin resting happily in his lap. “You’re such a child,” he says.</p><p>“Hey, if it’s a win, then it’s a win,” Kuroo says lightly. Hoshiumi screeches in agreement and Kenma laughs at the wince on Kuroo’s face.</p><p>“Hoshiumi, you’re great and I love you,” Kuroo tries, “but how and why are you so loud? You’re a griffin—part eagle—not red tailed hawk.”</p><p>Hoshiumi’s response is an even louder squawk and a tilted head. In contrast, Hirugami is peaceful next to Kenma, trilling softly as Kenma pads through his feathers looking to preen them.</p><p>They settle into a comfortable quiet after, even Hoshiumi calming down aside from the occasional caw or two. Kenma rolls the thought around in his head and decides to break the silence.</p><p>“It has been in the back of my mind lately,” he starts. “I guess it doesn’t seem… I wouldn’t say I’m as opposed to it anymore.”</p><p>Kuroo’s head whips up from the other side of the room. “Wait,” he says. “Really?”</p><p>“I still want to sit on it for a bit longer,” Kenma says before Kuroo’s hopes get too high. “But… I can ask Nanami-san about it. If she says it’s okay, then I’ll consider it.”</p><p>Kuroo lets out a little cheer and when Kenma looks up at him, he has to avert his eyes because nobody should look <em>that</em> happy over something so small. He’s just giving it a proper chance; it’s not as though it’s a yes. Nanami-san could easily shoot it down still.</p><p>Somewhere deep down, he asks himself: when he gets to see Kuroo look like that, does he want her to?</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>To Kenma’s surprise, Nanami-san doesn’t take that long to come to a decision. She listens carefully to him explain the idea and he waits with bated breath as she processes it.</p><p>“That boy was supposed to be helping out to get away from his job,” she laughs. “How did he end up doing more business work?”</p><p>Fiddling with the hem of his sleeve, Kenma smiles even though he knows she can’t see him.</p><p>“Well, it sounds like you bunch have it sorted out. It seems a bit risky, but I think it could do a lot of good! If you want to, you have my permission. Just let me know how it goes, okay?”</p><p>Kenma blinks. That… was a lot easier than he thought it would be. “Thank you, Nanami-san,” he says. “But… are you sure? It might not go well…”</p><p>He hears her croaky laugh over the receiver again. “It’s okay, Kenma, I have some measures in place to fall back on. I genuinely think it’s a good investment. You’ll be fine, dear, just go for it! I have a meeting to get to in a moment but it was good talking to you, sweet. Say hi to Lev for me!”</p><p>“Bye, Nanami-san,” he manages to say, but halfway through, she hangs up. Kenma doesn’t think he’s ever ended a call with her without her accidentally cutting him off before he can finish saying his goodbyes.</p><p>He pockets his phone and starts toward the dragon pen to look for Lev before he remembers. The silver dragon was still resting in the back because he’d pissed off Yaku and ended up getting himself tied into a knot. He wasn’t in too much pain; his bruised pride probably hurt more. Kenma thinks maybe he’ll deliver Nanami-san’s greetings to her favourite dragon another time...</p><p>Kenma contemplates the rest of the conversation as he goes about his day. He didn’t think his boss would agree so readily and he told Kuroo he’d consider the proposal more seriously if she did. </p><p>He doesn’t see Kuroo til later in the week though, so for now, he settles on re-evaluating his stance. He’ll tell Kuroo about it the next time he sees him.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>They’re out on a lunch break when Kenma brings it up. Frost settles on the windows and Kenma can see people’s breaths outside. Kuroo’s scarfing down some chicken when Kenma pauses in eating his food.</p><p>“So I called Nanami-san,” he begins.</p><p>Kuroo wipes his mouth with a tissue. “And…?” he prods, when Kenma doesn’t say anything else.</p><p>Kenma bites his lip. He twists the end of the plants he’s braided into his hair today and focuses on his plate. “Well… I know a guy… who knows a guy who owns a local onigiri shop.”</p><p>He sits with bated breath in anticipation and Kuroo doesn’t disappoint; seconds later, he shoots up in his chair and the table shakes with the sudden movement. The other people in the building turn their heads to the noise and Kenma doesn’t even notice them in comparison to Kuroo’s loud glee.</p><p>“Kenma!” he exclaims.</p><p>Glancing up, he’s met with Kuroo’s bright eyes and glowing face. His lips are stretched into a wide smile and it makes something warm stir in Kenma’s chest. Everything fades into the background when Kenma focuses on Kuroo’s gaze.</p><p>“So you’re on board?”</p><p>“Yes, Kuro,” he chuckles. “That’s what that means.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>In the evening, as Kenma taps on Suna Rintarou’s contact, something in him knows this is the right decision.</p><p>(19:29) <i>hey suna,</i><br/>
(19:29) <i>can u send osamu my details</i><br/>
(19:30) <i>i have a business proposition</i><br/>
(19:34) <i>that isn’t an innuendo</i><br/>
(19:34) <i>just in case you thought it was</i></p><p>(19:52) <i><b>osamu do be fine as fuck I wouldnt blame you</b></i><br/>
(19:52) <i><b>but yea I can pass them on for you</b></i><br/>
(19:53) <i><b>I trust you not to do any,, funny,, business kozume kenma ;))</b></i></p><p>Kenma rolls his eyes affectionately. </p><p>(19:55) <i>thanks</i><br/>
(19:55) <i>i owe you one</i></p><p>(19:56) <i><b>it’s cool</b></i><br/>
(19:56) <i><b>I mean it would be nice to have a favour from my resident witch friend</b></i><br/>
(19:57) <i><b>but I’m a good person so it’s ok :)</b></i></p><p>Kenma huffs a laugh and closes his messenger app. Distantly, he wonders why Suna’s smiley faces always seem so threatening, but he writes it off as just another Suna thing.</p><p>The deed is confirmed when the next day, Osamu sends him a text.</p><p>(09:14) <i><span class="u">Hey, Suna asked me to get in touch about a business proposal?</span></i><br/>
(09:15) <i><span class="u">Do you want to talk about it over a call or in person?</span></i></p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Miya Osamu is Suna Rintarou’s boyfriend. Miya Osamu is also the owner of ‘Onigiri Miya’, and Kenma is made aware by Suna that this use of him just to get to his boyfriend would normally not be acceptable. However, Kenma is told the action is pardoned because he’s Kenma.</p><p>And that Suna is ‘having the time of his life’—or so he says.</p><p>“Osamu—” Suna breaks off into a wheeze, cackling as Osamu tilts his head down to look at the small griffin pulling at his clothes, only for one of the dragons to take the movement as an invitation to jump on. The phoenixes have taken up residence on his broad shoulders and Suna has his phone out to record Osamu’s wide eyes as he stands frozen in the middle of the room. “Osamu,” Suna tries again, gasping for breath between his laughs, “don’t—don’t move. Say cheese, babe.”</p><p>“Rin—”</p><p>Osamu tries to speak, but Hoshiumi uses the moment to jump up and snag his paws on Osamu’s shirt. He opens his beak and Kenma’s hands automatically go to his ears; he sees Kuroo and Akaashi do the same, but both Osamu and Suna are unprepared for the shirek that Hoshiumi lets out. Bokuto has eardrums of steel as he just laughs along freely, ears exposed to the noise.</p><p>The sheer volume causes Osamu to startle and he trips, trying not to kick the small griffin near his leg as he falls and ends up on his back in a heap, a dragon sitting on his face and Hoshiumi proudly standing on his chest. The phoenixes had the common sense to evacuate before they could get crushed under him and instead flitted about near the ceiling, watching the ordeal from above.</p><p>Kenma can’t help but giggle at the sight and Kuroo outright guffaws, slapping Bokuto’s back who’s too busy cackling to notice. Akaashi lets out a rare snort and Suna’s miraculously still holding the phone as he devolves into breathless, soundless laughter.</p><p>“Why am I here,” Osamu mumbles, but it’s muffled by the dragon on his face. He lifts a hand to push the small scaly creature off, but they evade his fingers and Kenma can see Osamu’s face scrunch up where the dragon clambers around. “Please get off me.”</p><p>In response, Hoshiumi walks in a circle on Osamu’s chest and plops himself down. Osamu puffs out a resounding <em>oof</em>.</p><p>“Okay, Hoshiumi, Fukunaga,” Kenma says, still smiling, “I think he’s had enough.”</p><p>Hoshiumi caws and obediently walks off, pressing a paw to Osamu’s stomach a bit too heavily, and Osamu splutters. Fukunaga leaps off into flight and Osamu is all that’s left in the aftermath, lying down and abandoned on the ground.</p><p>Suna stops recording and pauses to catch his breath before he helps Osamu up, smirk still on his face. Osamu pouts and Suna pokes his cheek.</p><p>“So, you’ve met everyone now,” Kenma says. “What do you think?”</p><p>Osamu brushes his hair out of his face and chuckles. “You definitely have some personalities flyin’ around here. Overall though, I think it’s a good idea. I have a portable fridge to hold some onigiri and I saw some outlets we could use to power them and some of our drink machines.”</p><p>“Do you want to make the deal then? We can talk money and all that in the employee room,” Kuroo suggests.</p><p>“Yeah, I think so. Rin and Kozume-kun can do some advertising on their social medias, too, right?”</p><p>“Yep,” Suna says. “We can sort all that out between us once everything’s set up though.”</p><p>Nodding, they all agree and Kuroo claps his hands together.</p><p>“Alright! Let’s get this show on the road then,” Kuroo grins. Bokuto cheers while the others head out.</p><p>Kenma coincidentally catches Kuroo’s eye and he doesn’t know how to describe the flip that his stomach does when Kuroo’s smile softens into something more personal, something he’s only ever seen directed at him. It’s nearing the end of November and his cheeks feel overly warm.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The process has been going fairly smoothly, Kenma thinks. There haven’t been many complications and any they did have were fixed easily enough. It doesn’t explain why Kenma feels so stressed and he gnaws on his knuckle. He’d had to delay today’s scheduled stream because he hadn’t been feeling too good, his body resisting anything but water. In the end, he’d still done the stream, but he knows his viewers could tell something was off and it meant he ended the stream earlier than usual, his regulars sending him well wishes as he signed off.</p><p>Sighing, he opens his phone and scans over the checklist he’s made for himself. They’ve decorated the rescue a bit more than usual these past few days, and some volunteers had mentioned it looking good, so he could cross that off. His mind still buzzes despite it, thinking it needs double checking in case more could be added, or if something falls down, or if someone notices how some of the decorations are a bit more patchwork in areas than others.</p><p>He feels like he can’t sit back and relax; sleeping would be a waste of time and there’s too many things to do. He can’t stop now that he’s started and things need to be finished. He’s not a quitter.</p><p>It’s as he’s parsing through his list that his phone pings and a notification comes through. He clicks on the message.</p><p>(20:45) <b>Hey kenma</b><br/>
(20:45) <b>Are you okay?</b><br/>
(20:45) <b>Sorry</b><br/>
(20:46) <b>caught the end of your stream :(</b><br/>
(20:46) <b>FInally figured out how to use twitch</b></p><p>Kenma stares at the words, not really reading them. He and Kuroo had started messaging each other regularly sometime after Kuroo got his number from Bokuto. It always made Kenma’s day a bit brighter to see Kuroo’s nickname pop up on his phone and he knows his head is truly out of it when seeing the notification doesn’t bring the happiness it usually does.</p><p>It’s only when he goes to reply that he realises he’d been chewing on the skin of his knuckle. He grimaces at the feeling and goes to wash his hands and splashes some water on his face for good measure. When he comes back, there are more notifications on his screen.</p><p>(20:47) <b>tell me ur taking care of yourself :((</b><br/>
(20:47) <b>*ure</b><br/>
(20:48) <b>Don’t make me come over there and feed u myself &gt;:C</b></p><p>(20:49) <i>it’s okay i’m fine</i><br/>
(20:50) <i>just a little stressed is all</i><br/>
(20:50) <i>you don’t need to worry</i></p><p>(20:51) <b>Hmm</b><br/>
(20:51) <b>Have u eaten?</b></p><p>(20:52) <i>haven’t had dinner yet</i><br/>
(20:53) <i>can’t really</i><br/>
(20:56) <i>handle it right now</i></p><p>(20:56) <b>kenma!! :(</b><br/>
(20:57) <b>Can I come over?</b><br/>
(20:57) <b>I just wanna make sure ure okay :(</b></p><p>Casting a quick glance up, he brushes his plants aside to see the frost coating the window. He worries his lip between his bottom teeth.</p><p>(20:59) <i>no this weather sucks you should stay home</i><br/>
(21:00) <i>i appreciate it though</i></p><p>(21:01) <b>I don’t mind! i just want to see you</b><br/>
(21:02) <b>*to make sure that you’re okay!!</b><br/>
(21:02) <b>because I care about you</b><br/>
(21:03) <b>Since you’ve helped me out so much these past few months</b><br/>
(21:04) <b>and we’re friends now</b><br/>
(21:05) <b>Wait. We are friends right?</b></p><p>Kenma smiles despite himself.</p><p>(21:05) <i>yes kuroo, we are friends</i><br/>
(21:06) <i>i can’t stop you if you do want to come over</i><br/>
(21:07) <i>you can if you want to</i><br/>
(21:09) <i>but you don’t have to</i></p><p>(21:13) <b>What’s ur address?</b></p><p>Twenty minutes later, Kenma gets up from where he’s made a blanket fortress of his sofa to go answer the door. On the other side, Kuroo’s wrapped in a thick coat and earmuffs, holding a reusable supermarket plastic bag. His eyes are full of concern but his gaze softens when it lands on Kenma.</p><p>“Hey,” Kuroo says.</p><p>Stepping back, Kenma closes the door behind Kuroo when he walks in. “Hi,” he replies. His stomach had been tying itself in knots ever since Kuroo sent off the message that he was on his way, and it eases up slightly when he sees Kuroo taking off his coat and hanging it up in the hallway. Seeing Kuroo standing in his home, filling the usually quiet and empty space—fondness tugs at his heart and he blinks. The feeling disperses quickly, but Kenma feels like he’s been reeled in only to be let go.</p><p>“I don't know if you already have pre-made hot chocolate but I brought some ingredients so we could make it homemade instead, if you want,” Kuroo says as he wanders into Kenma’s kitchen. “Homemade tastes better than those powders, anyway. Sorry, no debate there.”</p><p>“‘s okay,” Kenma mumbles, following behind him. “I agree with you. I ran out of the powder stuff a while ago though I think.”</p><p>“Good, that means you have to enjoy Kuroo’s Hot Chocolate Special now,” he grins, setting the bag down on the counter. Pulling out the ingredients, he turns around to presumably ask something, but he stops. “Kenma, you’re shivering.”</p><p>Kenma takes stock of himself and thinks, <em>oh, I am</em>. He hadn’t noticed. “I’ll go grab a blanket; it’s fine,” he says. “The pots are in that cupboard.”</p><p>He leaves before he can look at Kuroo’s face and levitates one of the blankets off the back of the sofa. When he shuffles into the kitchen, fuzzy slippers on and warm blanket wrapped around his shoulders, he sees Kuroo’s already lit the stove and started heating the milk and chocolate together.</p><p>“Hey, kitten,” Kuroo says when he sees Kenma.</p><p>It takes Kenma a moment before—”Kitten?”</p><p>He notices Kuroo’s ears redden and he avoids Kenma’s eyes, turning around and supposedly concentrating harder on breaking chocolate into the bowl.</p><p>“Kuro…” he says, a small smile twitching on his lips.</p><p>“Hmm?” he hums innocently. It doesn’t work—Kenma can still see the red on the tips of his ears. Kuroo’s been inside long enough to warm up, and he had earmuffs on.</p><p>“I heard that, but I’ll let you off, if only because I still want hot chocolate,” he says.</p><p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Kenma,” Kuroo responds, still not looking at him.</p><p>“Do you need the double cream yet?”</p><p>“Ah—” Kuroo looks up for a second, and Kenma’s face stretches in a smirk as he catches his eye.</p><p>Kuroo goes beet red and Kenma laughs. “Your face,” he says.</p><p>“Just pass the double cream,” Kuroo mumbles, cheeks as red as Kenma thought they would be.</p><p>Waving a hand, the double cream floats over and pours itself into the bowl.</p><p>“I could just cast a spell to mix it for us, you know,” he says. “No whisking or stirring required.”</p><p>Kuroo straightens up at that, his blush starting to fade, an affronted look on his face. “No, you have to do it manually. Otherwise, where’s the fun?”</p><p>Hopping up to sit on his counter, Kenma shakes his head lightly. “The fun is in greater efficiency and saving energy.”</p><p>“Well, I’m the one who’s going to be doing the—minimal, mind you—manual labour, so direct me to your utensils, please,” Kuroo says. “Efficiency and energy saving mean nothing in the name of making homemade hot chocolate! The experience is part of the enjoyment, okay.”</p><p>“I’ve always been part witch, so it’s always been done with magic in my family. Can’t say I see the appeal in your method,” Kenma says, a soft tilt to his lips. “The whisk and stuff are in that drawer though.”</p><p>“I’ll show you,” Kuroo declares. “May his highness depart from his royal throne and give this loyal knight a chance to show him the wonders of being non-magical?” </p><p>Laughing, Kenma says, “Oh my God, Kuroo, that was so cheesy, what even.” He hops off the counter anyway and takes the whisk that Kuroo holds out. He grins up at Kuroo, his earlier worries forgotten in the back of his mind. “Fine, knight, I’ll take you up on your offer.”</p><p>Kuroo tries to show Kenma how to whisk, and honestly, Kenma’s surprised they don’t end up burning their mix. Kenma’s elbow knocks against Kuroo’s multiple times and Kuroo remarks that Kenma’s face scrunches up when he focuses too hard.</p><p>“It’s not even that hard to whisk something,” Kuroo gets out between laughs. “How is this happening?”</p><p>“Don’t ask me!” Kenma says, staring at the utensil like it’s offended him. Honestly, he doesn’t even remember how he came into possession of a whisk. Actually—”I’ve never used it; Akaashi gave it to me at some point.”</p><p>In the end, Kuroo does the rest, but he gives Kenma the honour of squirting whipped cream on their drinks and sprinkling mini marshmallows on top.</p><p>“That was a whole ordeal, I swear,” Kuroo chuckles when they clean up in the kitchen and set their cups down on the coffee table.</p><p>Snuggling into his favourite corner of the sofa, Kenma hums. “I set up my Switch to the TV earlier. Have you played Animal Crossing?”</p><p>Kuroo doesn’t answer and Kenma can hear him padding around back and forth, so Kenma glances behind him.</p><p>“Kuro, why aren’t you—”</p><p>He stops himself when he sees Kuroo wrapped in various amounts of leaves and vines.</p><p>“Slight problem,” Kuroo says, sheepish. He lifts his arms and Kenma’s plants follow, curling around his sleeves.</p><p>In Kenma’s defence, he can’t keep the laugh in.</p><p>“Hey, stop laughing at my misfortune! It is not my fault your plants decided to grab me like some hostage.”</p><p>“Sorry, sorry, you just—” Kenma huffs another laugh, bundling further into the blanket, his eyes crinkled into crescents. He doesn’t notice how Kuroo’s gone oddly quiet, and he doesn’t know about the breath that’s caught in Kuroo’s lungs. “Hold on, I’ll tell them to let you go.”</p><p>He whispers a sibilant sound, low and soothing, and the plants ease their grip on Kuroo until they’ve fallen limp and retracted. His hanging plants return to draping naturally, his vines go back to gluing themselves on the wall, and the potted ones retreat to their homes.</p><p>Kuroo sighs in relief and slumps on the couch. “Thanks,” he says, sipping from his hot chocolate. He licks his lips to get the rest of the whipped cream and Kenma tries not to stare. “And to answer your question, I’ve played Animal Crossing like, once.”</p><p>“That’s the real crime,” Kenma says, forcibly pulling his eyes away and grabbing the joy-cons. “That’s why my plants took you. They knew you’d say such blasphemy in my house.”</p><p>“Absolutely,” Kuroo says. “It’s written all over my face, you know. Plants don’t have eyes, but I must’ve been just that obvious.”</p><p>“My plants are secretly the Sibyl System from Psycho Pass,” he replies, setting up the local multiplayer. “They have sensors for these kind of things.”</p><p>He looks over to Kuroo when he doesn’t respond. Kuroo has a blank expression and Kenma thinks, <em>this is going to be a long night.</em> “You’ve never seen Psycho Pass? After this, we can watch it if you want.”</p><p>“I mean—sure,” Kuroo agrees easily. “I don’t know anything about it though.”</p><p>“That’s fine; the first episode fills you in,” he says absentmindedly. He hands a joy-con over. “Have you got a Switch account?”</p><p>Kuroo shakes his head and Kenma guides him through creating a local one for now. They take some time to make Kuroo an avatar, poking fun at the different options and giving Kuroo’s little character all sorts of unflattering facial hair, and then log back into Kenma’s world.</p><p>“We good to go?” Kuroo asks, making his character totter around on screen, exploring Kenma’s town.</p><p>“Yeah, should be,” he says. “Let me show you around.”</p><p>Too busy focused on the screen, Kenma doesn’t spot the way Kuroo watches him with an indiscernible softness in his eyes.</p><p>“You’re feeling better now, right?” he asks, a few minutes in when Kenma’s showing him how to catch a bug.</p><p>Kenma doesn’t answer for a second, busy chasing down a determined butterfly. When he does reply, it’s with a small smile on his lips. “I am. Thanks, Kuro. I’m glad you’re here.”</p><p>Kuroo smiles too. “Yeah.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>On the day of opening of their new joint rescue-cafe, they all consider it a pretty good success. Suna’s there to post stories and updates on his Instagram story, and he pops into the vlog Kenma records at some points. A decent amount of people come in and Osamu is busy away in the kitchen, Akaashi helping out alongside the one or two people Osamu brought with him.</p><p>Nobody adopts any of their animals on the first day, of course, but Kenma’s taken aback when he sees the amount they received in donations. It’s more than they’d ever gotten in one day, and Kuroo’s knowing smile makes something flutter in Kenma’s chest.</p><p>After Kuroo had visited him and stayed for the night, it had relieved a large amount of his anxieties, but some had appeared again before they opened the joint venture to the public. Seeing the outcome of the first day, Kenma’s glad to know his concerns, while not unfounded, weren’t that important in the end, and things turned out okay.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Cheers!” echoes in the air, and buoyant laughter bounces around.</p><p>The lights are low, snow isn’t quite falling but it’s cold enough that people’s noses are tipped with red, cheeks are glowing with warmth—everyone’s enjoying themselves, Akaashi even joining Bokuto to dance in the middle, and Kenma thinks there aren’t many moments that could match this atmosphere.</p><p>He sips his glass at the same time as the others and basks in the pleasant buzz of the evening. It’s been two or three weeks since they opened up the collaboration with Onigiri Miya and the video he recorded alongside Suna’s Instagram posts worked almost too well. They’d started with a booking system early on and they’d been backed up for a while. Many animals had been rehomed and the rescue was doing well in terms of donations. Kuroo stands next to him, looking out at the rest of the party with a loose smile, and Kenma feels like, in this moment, life is good.</p><p>“It’s nice, isn’t it?”</p><p>Kenma glances up.</p><p>“Everyone being here, having a good time, the success of this whole project,” Kuroo says. He looks down at Kenma, nose red too. Kenma notes he’s wearing the same earmuffs he wore when he came to Kenma’s house for the first time, and the orange hazy glow of the fairy lights around the garden casts soft highlights on his face. “Some would even say it’s the perfect time for romantic confessions, huh?”</p><p>Kenma feels his lips tug up, even despite his urge to cringe at the cheesiness. “Yeah?” he says. “Who’s that?</p><p>“Oh, just someone who came to this rescue three months ago because his aunt stormed into his office, told him to stop overworking himself and sent him on his way to go do something ‘more laidback.’ If she saw what work he ended up doing and what he ended up making, I think she’d re-evaluate her statement. When he goes home to tell her, I think she might even have a bit of a shock.”</p><p>Kenma steps closer to Kuroo. “It’s a good thing it turned out so well then,” he says. “Otherwise I think his aunt wouldn’t be too happy.”</p><p>“No, she wouldn’t be. She still won’t be that happy about him working like this, even if it’s for a good cause, but I think—”</p><p>Kuroo matches Kenma’s step forward, and like this, Kenma can feel his puffs of air as he breathes, can see the reflection of the lights in his eyes and see the snowflakes that land on his cheeks. </p><p>“I think, when she sees her nephew’s face and sees that he’s met a kind, sweet man who makes his heart beat a little too fast and his face smile a bit more than is probably good for avoiding wrinkles—I think she’ll be happy for him.”</p><p>Kenma laughs quietly in the space between them. “You know, I think she’d be even happier if her nephew had that man as his boyfriend.”</p><p>“Hey,” Kuroo tries to sound petulant, but the growing grin on his face makes it difficult. “Are you asking me out, Kozume Kenma? I thought I was going to.”</p><p>Kenma reaches out and takes Kuroo’s gloved hand in his. “Well, you see, the guy my heart has decided to like was taking too long, so I thought I’d do it for him.”</p><p>“Kenma,” Kuroo whispers, smile bright.</p><p>“Hey, Kuroo,” Kenma says. “Do you want to go out with me?”</p><p>“Yeah,” he says, gentle, soft, loving, “I do, kitten.”</p><p>Kenma’s cheeks feel even warmer, and his smile feels wide enough to fall off his face.</p><p>“How about a kiss first though?” Kuroo asks as he leans close.</p><p>“I think I can do that,” Kenma says, tipping his chin up.</p><p>When they kiss, Kenma thinks back to his earlier thought, and decides that, right now, life is a lot better than good.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this now takes the spot for the longest fic i've ever written,, oof</p><p>and also<br/>i can write things that arent angsty asf! that's the real achievement here dsfjkdsjkf</p><p>happy holidays everyone!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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